Chapter 143: Starseeker
Location: Starseeker Kingdom; Bandolier System; Farlon Station
The Starseeker Kingdom. Our closest neighbors and allies. A nation even older than The Empire itself. Now that I’m here, I notice that I know next to nothing about them. I don’t even know the name of their King. Sure, I can look it up within seconds but that’s not the point.
I’m a Valterion. A Valterion of the main line for freak’s sake! I’m supposed to know stuff like that. I feel really dumb now… Should have taken a course that teaches about our galaxy instead of enjoying my Monday mornings off since I dropped Beginner Space Magic.
That’s pitiful. I shake my head and tap my interface to rectify my issue of not knowing the King’s name. A picture quickly appears before me and I look at an elderly woman with dark skin, greying hair, silvery eyes and a golden crown on her head. Huh?
Curiosity has me reading the text below it. Queen Felicity Opalia is the current regent of the Starseeker Kingdom. She’s been Queen for more than 800 years now after her father, the previous King, was assassinated when she was barely 20 years old. As she became queen at such a young age, she now holds the record of longest serving regent in the Starseeker Kingdom and all their allied nations.
I look at her picture in awe. 800 years is a very long time! I wonder why she didn’t abdicate and let one of her descendants take the scepter.
Also, I really wish I could meet her right now. She seems like an inspiring woman. Maybe Grandpa John can pull a few strings once I’m back.
Anyway, we’re about to dock at Farlon Station, just as the other escort crew recommended. Stan is currently navigating the toward one of the docking arms and we just wait for him to finish. We’ve already changed into casual clothes and got rid of our funny but also embarrassing S.C.S.P.U.K. Security shirts.
Finally, Stan is done and the docking tube connects to our airlock. After the lights turn green, indicating equalized pressure, the airlock opens to the touch of a button and we step out onto the space station. I’m the first one and eagerly walk down the hallway. Now that we’re done with the assignment for the Security course, I don’t have to stay in the background anymore. I really want to find out what Farlon Station has to offer!
The first thing I notice is the big sign at the end of the hallway. It reads Starseeker citizens to the left and sends everyone else toward the right. With a shrug, we all turn right and follow another hallway. It’s shorter and ends with a booth that welcomes us to the Starseeker Kingdom.
A smiling clerk greets us and asks if this is our first visit. When we say yes, she smiles even broader and gives us a short introduction to the kingdom, or rather Queendom as she says while chuckling.
“You see, most think that we have a King at the head of our nation, but for more than 800 years now, Queen Felicity leads us to prosperity. She’s the best!”
I chuckle lightly at her antics and at the fact that I just finished looking up their Queen and now the clerk informs us of her. When I look at the others, I see that Caroline and Paul look quite surprised while the other three just nod along, knowingly.
She proceeds to tell us a bit more about the Kingdom, its size, founding, yadda, yadda, yadda… I only half listen because it’s well, boring. When I notice though, I inwardly slap myself. I should know such things!
I continue to listen just when she tells us about what we can experience on Farlon Station. Apparently, it’s a place where many first-time visitors make a stop to learn more about the Kingdom. Therefore, Farlon Station is like a giant visitor’s center, introducing the people to the Starseeker Kingdom. The woman finishes with recommending to visit Joe’s bar to try out Star Juice, the Kingdom’s national drink. We thank her and continue further into the station.
It doesn’t take long, barely fifty meters, then the hallway opens up to a giant open space. We’ve reached the heart of the station and therefore the actual visitor’s center.
Ulia immediately points to our left. “There! I see the Joe’s bar sign. Wanna go for a drink? I’m really thirsty.”
“Sure,” I agree and turn to follow her. Caroline and the others are right behind us.
It takes about five minutes of walking, as the bar is further away than we expected, but from the looks of it, it was worth it. I mean if it was bad, it wouldn’t be as crowded as it is right now. There’s even a short line at the entrance and a bouncer lets people enter slowly. As only six people are waiting, we join the line and start waiting.
Luckily, it only takes about ten minutes until our group gets the go-ahead from the bouncer and we enter the bar. Ulia is the first one in and stops at the threshold so quickly that I stumble into her. I offer her a quick apology, then take in Joe’s bar from the inside.
Yeah, I can understand why she stopped… It’s quite the sight! The most prominent feature is the wall right behind the counter. It exclusively consists of barrels, every one of them has a tap and a plate, naming the contents. It has to be more than 100 different barrels. And that’s not all!
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The bartenders are either all Mages or use Magitech to telekinetically float around so many glasses and mugs. They stop below the various taps, then the glass or mug gets filled up. After that, it floats back down and the bartender hands it to a server or directly to the customer before them.
Other than that, the bar’s interior reminds me of those ancient English pubs I know from my movie sessions with Thomas. The lighting is soft and comes from small lamps hanging from the wooden roof, the seats are padded and also made out of wood. To the sides, I notice small passageways, possibly leading to other rooms of the bar. If I remember correctly, this is where you can play darts or watch sports or just have a good time.
We stay in the tap room though and sit down at a recently vacated table. There’s no menu, but we can all read the plates on the bottles. I guess that’s also some kind of menu… Anyway, I’ve already made my decision on what to drink before entering the bar anyway, so that’s only semi important.
I look at the others. “Do you know what you want to order?”
When they all nod, I wave down a server and a young man with a bald head quickly joins our table. Strange choice of hairstyle for his age, but hey I’m not judging.
He asks for our orders, and we tell him one after another. Unsurprisingly, we end up with six Star Juices, which causes the server to chuckle. “Your first time to the Kingdom, huh?”
“That obvious?” I ask with a raised eyebrow.
He grins. “Yeah, ordering Star Juice exclusively is a big sign. Our regulars often prefer something more locally brewed like the Bando Lionbrew… Not that Star Juice isn’t good. It’s amazing actually, just a bit too mainstream for most of us locals. Anyway, I’m babbling, be right back with your drinks.”
He only needs a few minutes until he’s back with six glasses filled with a red liquid that reflects the light as if it’s made out of stars. Star Juice indeed. We thank him and he leaves to serve another table. I grab my glass and raise it. “Cheers, to a successful assignment!”
The others join me and Stan calls out. “To Sara! We wouldn’t have made it so smoothly without you, thank you!”
Then we drink.
Wow!
No wonder that’s their national drink. It tastes superb. A fruity combination that just makes you happy and craving for more. I continue to take another big gulp and lean back in my seat. Amazing! I need a barrel, no, a whole shipload of that stuff.
While we continue drinking, I have Clara browse the web for exactly that, she presents me her findings shortly after. Dang, that’s going to be expensive, especially that shipping across the border. With that taste it’s no wonder that shipping companies try to earn a premium on their deliveries. I mean supply and demand… As long as the people are willing to pay the price, why lower it? If only I knew a…
Yeah, I’m dumb. I spin up a Communication spell and aim for Jack. It quickly connects and his cheery voice greets me.
The call disconnects and I finish the last drops of my Star Juice before ordering another. The circle continues for almost an hour before the six of us manage to drag ourselves out of Joe’s bar. We still have a space station to explore.
Back outside, we stroll along and take in the sights. It’s weird, everything looks so similar but different at the same time. Like trashcans. Ours mostly blend into the surroundings, while those in the Kingdom are used for advertisements and are literally right in the middle of things. Their purpose is the same though…
All those little details fascinate me and I hungrily take them all in. The fashion here is also slightly different. Pants and shirts are cut a little bit differently. It’s just a small bit, but still noticeable. That’s probably how every merchant immediately notices that we’re foreigners and happily advertises their tourist friendly products to us.
Things continue like that while we cross the station. I buy a few souvenirs for my roommates along the way. In the end, we find ourselves in one of the restaurants for dinner and try out the local cuisine. Again, it’s very similar. Everything is just a little spicier.
When the waitress noticed that we’re from The Empire, she immediately brought a glass of milk for everyone in case it’s too spicy for us. Caroline was the only one who needed it because she ordered something extra spicy. Turns out extra spicy in the Starseeker Kingdom means burns-your-tongue-out-spicy.
After all that, we decide to let our day in the Kingdom end and slowly return to the Stan sets course back to the wormhole and we relax in one of the rooms in the meantime. Kevin produces a deck of cards he bought on the station and we start playing. That’s a great pastime until we have to go through border control again. Then it’s my turn to navigate through the wormhole.
Location: Magicon Empire; Magicon System; Terra; Imperia; FBC
We’ve been very far out, so it takes almost three days to get back to the Magicon System. Sure, I could have gone faster but that would have meant constant jumping at almost my maximum distance. Way too exhausting, especially now that we’re under no time constraints.
So, I rather took a relaxed approach and used the wormholes along the way with a few jumps to shorten the flights from wormhole to wormhole. No one was bothered by it and we only lost Monday’s lessons because of it. For me that’s only the Exploration course, but I excused myself in advance. Sam was very understanding and immediately approved my absence as it’s only listening to presentations anyway at the moment.
When we arrive at one of FBC’s space station, Stan takes care of returning the ship and I happily teleport the six of us back down to the planet. It’s late Monday afternoon when I say goodbye to them, so I still have enough time to get ready for Gravity Ball training tonight. Before that though, Stan invites me to attend to the group’s debriefing tomorrow during the lunch break. I agree, as I really want to see how Instructor Schmidt sees their performance.
